Revision
by Caligo Origuu
Summary: Eleventh Hour AU. She always believed that all things happened for a reason, but the bitterness of abandonment made her question everything. What if Viera hadn't argued when the Doctor asked her to stay with Amelia? Alternate Part Twelve.
1. Compliance

IMPORTANT: THIS IS AN ALTERNATE ENDING. It diverts from Part Twelve of Viera, my main Doctor Who project. If you haven't read that then I can't guarantee that this will make any sense.

DISCLAIMER: Doctor Who does not belong to me, but this is how things might have gone if they did.

SUMMARY: Eleventh Hour. She always believed that all things happened for a reason, but the bitterness of abandonment makes her question everything. Viera didn't argue when the Doctor asks her to stay with Amelia.

ALLERGEN WARNING: The following product may contain faith, doubt, SPOILERS for Doctor Who, an OC, the occasional monologue, and more than a few nuts.

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><p><em>Supplemental Soundtrack:<em>

**Alt 12:1 – Abandoned: "Broken" by Break of Reality**

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><p>ALTERNATE PART TWELVE – AMELIA<p>

Revision One – Compliance

_ "Why don't you stay here with Amelia?" the Doctor suggested. He seemed sincerely unworried when she turned to look at him. "Just five minutes. It really isn't safe right now; it's not going to be a fun trip. Keep Amelia company. I'll be right back."_

Viera opened her mouth to protest, then hesitated. They really couldn't just leave the little girl alone, could they? But she still couldn't quite shake that sense of unease at the prospect of splitting up.

"Promise?" she murmured.

The Doctor grinned, steady and reassuring. "Of course! Five minutes. Maybe ten. Just a quick trip and we'll all be off on an adventure." He turned back to the ship, grabbing the rope that dangled inside. He looked over his shoulder one last time and Viera made herself return his smile. "Be back in a jiff!" Then he leapt into the ship, the door slamming shut behind him as the rope pulled tight. The familiar sounds of the TARDIS slipping into the time vortex filled the air. It sounded a bit different from outside the ship.

Viera bit her lip as the last quiet wheeze of the TARDIS faded into silence. Amelia didn't share any of her unfounded worries. The little girl grinned from ear to ear, snatched up Viera's hand and pulled her into the house. Viera followed her upstairs, helped her pack a small suitcase, then watched her race back down the hall. She walked at a more sedate pace, listening all the while for the sound of the TARDIS. It was quiet in the garden, peaceful and calm. Little Amelia plopped her suitcase down and sat on it, almost quivering with anticipation. Viera smiled slightly at her enthusiasm then settled onto the ground next to her.

And so they waited.


	2. Leadworth

IMPORTANT: THIS IS AN ALTERNATE ENDING. It diverts from Part Twelve of Viera, my main Doctor Who project. If you haven't read that then I can't guarantee that this will make any sense.

DISCLAIMER: Doctor Who does not belong to me, but this is how things might have gone if they did.

ALLERGEN WARNING: The following product may contain faith, doubt, SPOILERS for Doctor Who, an OC, the occasional monologue, and more than a few nuts.

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><p>ALTERNATE PART TWELVE – AMELIA<p>

Revision Two – Leadworth

_~ July 25__th__, 1997 ~_

Leadworth was a nice town. It was quiet and peaceful. Relaxing. The grass was green and neatly cropped, the skies were sunny as much as could be expected and the air was constantly filled with the delicate scents of flowers from the meticulously kept gardens. It was lovely, really.

It was also completely and irrevocably dull.

Viera didn't mind a bit of peace and quiet, in fact she used to treasure it, but the total lack of distractions in Leadworth was going to drive her utterly mad in the end. She was left alone far too often with her troubled thoughts.

_Two years, three month and nineteen days since the TARDIS left,_ she mused. Her feet followed the well-worn path without needing any attention at all; she'd been walking along the same road nearly every day for almost two years. _What if he really isn't coming back…?_

Viera pressed a hand to her chest where the Obetovat lay silent beneath her shirt. She couldn't feel him anymore. She couldn't feel any of them. The Doctor was too far away, wherever, whenever he was, and technically she hadn't even met Ianto and Steven yet, let alone saved them.

On her better days she looked for the TARDIS around nearly every corner, certain that soon, _soon_ he'd be back for her. He wouldn't leave her behind. Those days she felt forgiving, able to acknowledge that it wasn't his fault. That he hadn't meant to leave her behind. Sometimes the TARDIS just… had a mind of its own.

Other days she couldn't find the strength to pardon him. Five minutes. He said he'd be back in five minutes. He'd _told_ her to stay behind and then he'd just left. She was angry that he was so careless with time. She was angry that he'd made a promise he couldn't keep. And on her very worst days, she thought maybe he'd done it on purpose. Maybe he'd found another companion or maybe he'd gotten tired of her. Maybe he'd just left her behind the way he'd left Sarah Jane and didn't bother to say goodbye.

He'd shown her the universe, given her a home, then taken it all away.

As she reached the bend in the path, Viera stumbled on a tangled root that had crept above the soil. She hadn't seen it past the tears. She stopped and swiped at her leaking eyes irritably. _I can't keep doing this. I can't. I'm going drive myself crazy thinking like this._ Viera still couldn't make herself stop waiting for him, not yet; maybe not ever. What she could do was find a way to live in the meantime. No more moping around uselessly. No more haunting the paths of Leadworth like a ghost. Enough was enough.

"I have got to get out of here."


	3. An Unexpected Meeting

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I know there's way too much narration at the beginning of this, but I really just wanted to get this story moving. Please bear with me. Also, I may have adjusted a few canon facts to suit my purposes.

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><p>ALTERNATE PART TWELVE – AMELIA<p>

Revision Three – An Unexpected Meeting

_~ January 27__th__, 2004 ~_

It was a decade too early for Viera to contact anyone she knew on Earth, but she was desperate for someone to talk to, someone who might understand, or at least not think that she was crazy. There was only one person who came to mind.

Viera had a conversation with the Doctor once about the pros and cons of military organizations. She couldn't remember what had started the conversation, but she remembered the Doctor speaking quite fondly about a man he called the Brigadier.

It took her a while to make her way to the nearest UNIT base and even longer to convince someone to let her speak to General Lethbridge-Stewart. She had drop the words 'doctor' and 'TARDIS' and 'daleks' into several conversations before anyone took her seriously. Eventually Viera was shipped off to London where Lethbridge-Stewart was temporarily working at yet another base. She found he was worth the trouble. The General, who still preferred to be called Brigadier, was kind and understanding and more than patient as she poured her heart out and told him everything. In the end, he offered her exactly what she needed: a job.

It was too risky for Viera to be in London where any number of people might run into her too early, but the Brigadier had a solution for that too. He called in some favors and pulled a few strings and before too long, Viera was in possession of a modified perception filter that Torchwood had scavenged. No one in London aside from the Brigadier would ever see Viera's true face again.

New job, new face, new name. To her co-workers Danielle Carroway was a woman alone in the world except for her odd friendship/working relationship with the Brigadier General and the occasional phone calls to and from a little town called Leadworth. Her work was her life. She was nice and friendly in a somewhat distant way; she didn't socialize much.

In truth, Danielle aka Viera couldn't bring herself to put down good solid roots in the new life she'd found herself in. Some part of her still expected to be whisked away at any moment, without time to say goodbye. It didn't help that her whole life was basically a lie, and she wasn't a terribly good liar. So she kept people at a distance and buried herself in work.

Six and a half years later, Viera had worked her way into a job she was actually rather proud of: Extraterrestrial Ambassador. She was just one of several and more often than not Viera felt like she was in over her head, trying to keep the peace between Earth and whatever aliens were currently in orbit, but it finally felt like she was doing something _good_ with her life.

"We have a situation!"

Viera's Tuesday started out with a rather urgent summons from her boss. She felt a familiar trickling of nerves and adrenaline but tried not to let it show.

"What's going on?"

"There's a foreign ship in orbit and they seem to have taken a hostage." He turned around the laptop on his desk so she could see the video as he pressed play. "They sent this a few minutes ago. We just got the translations."

English scrolled across the bottom; Viera didn't recognize the language the aliens were speaking in. She didn't recognize them either from her travels with the Doctor or her time with UNIT. Their faces were thin and angular, much like what she could see of their bodies. Grey skinned with small, pale blue eyes and even smaller ears, she'd certainly have remembered seeing them before. There were three of them, though only one actually spoke.

The rushed translations were rather spotty and not all of it made sense, but it was enough for them to understand that the aliens who called themselves Tirrukins were not happy. They were warning the people of Earth to either not rebel, or not attack, the translation wasn't clear. That was a pretty important distinction though. The video flashed briefly to a captive with his hands bound behind his back. She couldn't really make out his features between bad lighting and a worse camera angle, but he definitely looked human.

"How'd they get ahold of a him?"

"We don't know. It's entirely possible that they just teleported down without alerting any of our systems. There are a lot of technologies we haven't caught up with yet. "

"So I'm playing hostage negotiator."

"More or less. I shouldn't have to tell you though, protecting Earth is the priority. We still don't know what they're doing in our sector of the galaxy, let alone why they're hovering over Earth. Find out what they want. Get them to leave. If you can get that poor sod out safely as well, all the better."

"Understood."

It took a couple hours to get ahold of the ship and negotiate her way on board. The aliens had fortunately figured out the language issues and had taken to conversing in English. Not having to use a translator made Viera's job an hundred times easier.

Two hours later a teleported dropped her into the heart of the Tirrukin ship. The room she found herself in was rather unremarkable; the aliens were less so. The Tirrukins were taller than they'd looked on screen. She hadn't realized that they had six long grey limbs either. Still, she had enough experience to not stare. Viera gave a shallow bow instead, having found in the past that the gesture usually translated well.

"I am Danielle Carroway. Thank you for allowing my presence aboard your ship," she stated with a polite smile, careful not to bare her teeth as that sometimes came across as aggression. "I hope very much that we can come to a peaceful arrangement."

The tallest of the Tirrukin scoffed. "Is that why you send your spy to our ship?"

Viera's smile vanished. If their captive had come to them rather than being abducted, that changed the situation quite a bit. She didn't even know who was capable of getting to the ship without the Tirrukin's help. Had Torchwood been meddling again? That group was nothing but trouble before Jack took over.

"I was not aware that anyone had been sent," Viera stated very carefully, unwilling to denounce whoever it was just yet. "If I may beg your indulgence and be allowed to see him, perhaps we can figure out what happened." A couple of the Tirrukins grumbled and Viera resisted the urge to fidget nervously. It was vital that she remain calm and polite. She had to appear approachable, reasonable, and flexible without letting them think they could walk all over her. She had a much harder time with the latter part of that than the former.

"Fine. You can see the fool, then we will get our answers," the leader finally snapped. "Bring him here!" Two of the Tirrukins loped off to fetch their prisoner as the tallest pinned Viera with sharp, pale eyes. "I am Tic-ru N'ehn the Mighty, and I warn you, if you think to trick us, you will suffer. Your planet will suffer. We will not tolerate being treated like fools."

"I understand," Viera murmured, a bit wide-eyed. She was vastly relieved when the Tirrukins returned with the jerk who had set her negotiations off to such a bad start. The relief and frustration both faded abruptly when the tall stranger was dragged in and forced to his knees in front of them. His head was bowed and while she couldn't see any obvious wounds, he looked rather worse for the wear. Of course they'd have questioned him. She couldn't help wondering what exactly they'd done.

"Do you still claim to not know this man?" Tic-ru demanded haughtily.

The lanky stranger finally raised his eyes, and Viera stopped breathing. It didn't matter that his eyes were blue instead of brown, or that she'd never seen that wild storm behind them so untamed; she _knew_ those eyes.

_Doctor…_


	4. Failed Negotiations

_Supplemental Soundtrack:_

**The Lone Survivor: "Salvation Forest" by Sycross**

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><p>ALTERNATE PART TWELVE – AMELIA<p>

Revision Four – Failed Negotiations

_~ January 27__th__, 2004 ~_

"Well?" Tic-ru snapped.

Viera jumped slightly then tried to control her reaction. Rather than answer his question directly, she stepped forward, fighting the urge to pull the Doctor to his feet and throw her arms around him. "Who are you?"

"The Doctor. Doctor comma the. No last name, so don't ask," the Time Lord drawled in a biting northern accent. The friendliness she'd come to expect from the Doctor was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh," Viera said intelligently.

"So he is one of yours?" Tic-ru pressed, his small eyes narrowed.

"Never seen her before in my life," the Doctor denied sharply.

She couldn't do the same. They would have better leverage over her with a hostage in hand, but if she didn't claim him, she'd likely have a much harder time getting him back. It didn't take her long to decide. "Yes. I wasn't aware he was here, but yes, the Doctor is part of UNIT." There was angry chatter from a few of the Tirrukins clustered off to one side. _Not a good way to start a negotiation._

"And how did he get here? Why did you send him?!" the Tirrukin leader demanded.

"I don't know. I wasn't aware that he was here," Viera repeated, her own voice carefully calm. "Truly, Mighty Tic-ru, I believe this is a misunderstanding-"

Tic-ru scoffed, interrupting her. "Throw them both in the cells. Perhaps they will feel more honest after a few days to think over their situation." He gave a cold little smirk. "Of course, who knows what will have become of their planet by then."

"I assure you, I'm not lying!" Viera tried. She bit back a yelp as two of the Tirrukin grabbed her arms and dragged her abruptly away. "Mighty Tic-ru, _please-!_" By the time she got the words out, they were out of the room. She couldn't even walk to keep them from pulling so hard on her arms because the Tirrukin were so tall; her feet barely touched the ground. Struggling just made her feel more helpless. _Oh, for heaven's sake. _Viera gave up fighting and tried to keep track of all the corridors they passed through instead, hanging limply from their bruising grips.

The hallways were made of a dark metal; it was full of odd grooves and dents and patterns, but there wasn't a bit of rust anywhere. It was obviously well taken care of. Every Tirrukin they passed walked with sharp, military precision. She got the feeling that it'd be a bad idea to underestimate any of them. To be quite honest, Viera would have been a lot more worried if the Doctor hadn't been on board as well.

She was taken deep into the belly of the ship and tossed into a square cell about eight feet wide in both directions. Viera landed hard on her hands and knees, hissing quietly at the sting of the impact. A moment later she scrambled out of the way as the Doctor was thrown in after her. She back up against the metal bars and winced as one of them scraped a shallow cut in her shoulder. Viera turned around instinctively, eyeing the twisted shards of metal that grew all along the bars with irritation. _I liked this shirt._

"Fine mess you've gotten yourself into here."

"Excuse me?" Viera turned back to the Time Lord still sprawled on the floor. _You don't know him. You don't know him. You can't react like you know him._ "Who got caught first? What are you even doing here?"

The Doctor looked at her upside down for several long, silent minutes. Just when Viera was starting to think he wasn't going to say anything, he leapt to his feet with a haphazard grace that was painfully familiar. "Do I know you?"

"What?" Viera flinched then tried very hard to pretend she hadn't. She could practically _feel_ those sharp blue eyes pulling apart her deception.

"Why are you doing this? You'd have had an easier time negotiating if you'd told them to do what they wanted with me."

"I know who you are, Doctor. And I do have _some_ concept of what the world owes you." _What I owe you…_ "I couldn't just..." Her emotions were starting to creep into her voice; she was going to have to be careful if she didn't want to have to explain that she did, in fact, know him. She took a deep breath and tried to distance herself. "Besides, the Brigadier General would have my head if I left you here."

"The Brigadier?" the Doctor echoed a bit skeptically.

"I work for UNIT."

"Obviously." The Doctor rolled his eyes and started digging through the pockets of his black leather jacket.

"He talks about you a lot, General Lethbridge-Stewart. You should go say hello sometime," Viera prodded. She rather thought it'd do them both good.

Not, of course, that he was inclined to take her advice. The Doctor pulled his sonic screwdriver from his pocket with an "Ah-ha!" and didn't acknowledge her suggestion. Viera pursed her lips, crossed her arms, and forced herself to keep from babbling lest she give something away.

The Doctor eyed the guards that had been stationed at the entrance to the room, then his gaze drifted upwards. The soft sound of the screwdriver's hum filled the air, and Viera watched the screws slide out of a long vent grate in the ceiling. The guard looked up as well, but it was too late. The grate fell, hit the guard in the head, and they both fell with a thump and a clang. Viera cringed at the noise, but the Doctor didn't seem to notice, too busy opening the lock to their cell.

"What would you have done if they'd searched your pockets?" she wondered as the door swung open. The Doctor merely grunted and moved on, briefly glancing at the stunned guard as he passed. Viera had to jog to keep up with those annoyingly long legs.

"Where are we headed?" she asked, undeterred.

"Teleportation portal," he replied without looking at her. "I think we've overstayed our welcome."

The Doctor stopped suddenly and grabbed her arm. Viera nearly stumbled over her feet, but she obediently scooted against the wall at his tug. The sound of voices drifted down the hallway from around a corner. She held her breath. Two tall Tirrukins ambled into view but turned into the hall opposite them, walking away. Viera stayed as quiet and still as she could, very much aware of the Doctor next to her. He'd dropped her arm as soon as she'd done what he wanted, and she missed the warmth of his hand. She missed his dopey grin and floppy brown hair and the sense of camaraderie she used to get just standing next to him.

At last the Tirrukins walked out of sight. The Doctor took off down the hallways they'd come from, and Viera hurried after him.

"This way," the Doctor decided, veering down yet another corridor.

"Slow down," Viera hissed as quietly as she could, stumbling around the corner.

"Keep up," he scolded, sounding quite put upon. He didn't slow his pace exactly, but he did spare a moment to catch her arm and pull her into the right room.

"Here we are! Teleportation-" The Doctor's voice trailed off at the sight before them. They stared at the brightly illuminated countdown on the screen and the large map on the wall speckled with dozens of targets. The large map of the Earth. Obviously the Tirrukins were not planning on relying on negotiations alone to get what they wanted.

"Well that's not good," Viera sighed. "So much for going back."

"What are you talking about?" the Time Lord snapped. "You're going back right now."

"I'm not leaving without you," she replied automatically.

"Oh, please," the Doctor scoffed. "I don't need a babysitter. What good are you here anyways? Hack computers in your spare time, do you? No? Then _I'll_ be fixing this. _You'll_ just get in the way."


	5. Arguments

ALTERNATE PART TWELVE – AMELIA

Revision Five – Arguments

_~ January 27__th__, 2004 ~_

Ten minutes later he was still typing away at the keyboards as Viera stood to one side, trying _not_ to get in the way. She wasn't entirely sure what to do with this sharp-tongued version of the Doctor. Admittedly, even the incarnation she was used to could be carelessly rude, but he was just so… _enthusiastic? Bright, lively, __**warm**__-_ He was just so _him_ that it was harder to take offense. This version, well, warm wasn't really the word she'd use.

It was like there was a dam holding back his emotions, a wall between them and the world and the part of himself he acknowledged, but sometimes there were cracks in it that even he couldn't shore up. It had always been there, but it was different now; thicker, harder, full of sharp stones that could hurt anyone who knocked against them. She couldn't help wondering which incarnation he was, whether this was someone who would become the man who was 'her' Doctor or the man that her Doctor would become.

He'd been gone for so long, eight and a half _years_, and now that she'd found him, he was so different. He didn't know her. She had to lie about the fact that she knew him. Her emotions were so muddled that Viera didn't know _what_ she felt about the whole situation.

All things considered, the fact that they seemed to be in over their heads was almost pleasant in its familiarity.

"All right," the Doctor broke the silence. She wasn't sure if he meant resuming the conversation as an olive branch, but that was how she was going to take it. "The teleport's reconfigured for UNIT headquarters. You can tell your superiors that negotiations failed, through no fault of your own I'm sure," she couldn't quite tell if that was sarcasm, "and be home in time for tea. Leave the rest to me." He gave her a hopeful grin that didn't quite reach his eyes.

Viera pursed her lips. "What _is_ the rest?"

"You go _home_. I rewire their systems so the weapons aren't point towards Earth and see if I can't talk them into being more reasonable."

_Right, like that's going to happen._ "I'm a negotiator. Shouldn't that be my job?"

"Nope," he replied immediately, the end of the word popping between his lips. "You're going back to headquarters."

"Why?" Viera asked in the same half-wary, half-doubtful tone she'd been using since he introduced his plan.

"'S dangerous."

"It's always dangerous," she objected, crossing her arms as she eyed the painfully-false optimism in his fading grin and foreboding crept down her spine. "Where are the weapons going to be pointing if they're not aimed at Earth?"

The Doctor's eyes narrowed and for a moment she thought he wouldn't answer, but perhaps he realized that she'd just keep asking anyways. "Here. If the Tirrukins can't be reasoned with, the best thing to do is cripple the ship's weapons. I can rig it so only the weapons bay and the control room are completely destroyed. The crew ought to be able to get back to their own star system on axillary power." He hesitated and grimaced, showing the first signs of reluctance. "_Most_ of the crew."

_And what's to keep them from coming back? More importantly- _"How are you going to get off? The teleport? Your ship?" Viera asked. Something furtive flickered across his expression and she stiffened in alarm. The teleport was there in the control room, but- "As long as you leave before anything goes off you'll be fine, right?"

"I have to stay," the Doctor stated far too carelessly. "They'll come running and reprogram this thing the moment I warn them if I'm not here to make sure the doors stay closed."

"But- you can't-" Viera whispered, breathless with the shock of what he was suggesting. She knew that he lived, that he was supposed to live, but things changed all the time didn't they? What if she'd messed something up by being there? He sounded so very certain, and it terrified her. _What if he- What if he-_

"This isn't any of your business. Your planet will be fine."

"Doctor…"

"Leave it alone," he warned. The beginnings of real anger edged his words, which frightened her more. He was truly serious about his stupid, suicidal plan. "Go home."

"I'm not going anywhere," she argued, her own voice raising. "I won't let you do this. There has to be another way!"

"There isn't. And you know what? It was only a matter of time! I've been pulling your tails out of the fire for millennia. You stupid apes are always on the verge of destruction. Nine lives I've given to this! I keep saving this rotten little pile of dust over and over again, and I am _sick_ of it! Well now I'm done. You can do it without me!"

Viera flinched at the pain raging in his voice, but deep down inside some small part of her felt a flicker of relief at hearing the number nine. He could, _would_ heal enough to become her Doctor if she could keep him from getting himself killed; this broken man was not her familiar Time Lord's future.

"No." The denial was soft and calm but no less stubborn for its lack of volume, and it was quite enough to fracture the Doctor's unstable calm.

His dam broke.

"You don't get to tell me what I can and cannot do! Who are you? You're _nothing_! You have no concept of who I am, what I've done. I'm a Time Lord- I'm the _last_ Time Lord! I'm the _only one __**left!" **_He was breathing hard by the end. He towered over her, his stormy blue eyes so fierce with agony that it left her breathless. A long moment passed before he finally realized that he'd backed her against the wall. The muscles in his jaw tightened, then he stepped back and turned away.

"Go home," he ordered again tersely.

_I can't. You are home._

"I can't. I have a duty-" Viera tried quietly, trying to shake off the feeling of intimidation.

"Duty!" he spat, sounding quite disgusted. He still wasn't looking at her. "You've done enough. I've got it under control."

"I'm not leaving," she muttered stubbornly. He'd have to drag her to the teleport, and if he did, she had every intention of dragging him in with her.

"You are _unbelievable,_" he growled, scowling at the console, throwing levers and yanking at wires with rather more force than necessary. Viera braced herself for an argument. She was surprised when he shoved a handful of wires her way instead. "Hold these. Don't touch the ends; you'll end up fried."

She took them and carefully pointed the stripped ends away from them both. The Doctor worked in silence for a few minutes, but Viera couldn't keep it up.

"I'm sorry. For your people," she clarified softly. It felt stupid to say; those two little words could hardly convey what she felt let alone the magnitude of what he'd lost, but she felt like she needed to say them anyways.

The Doctor when completely still a moment, then he scoffed, though the anger in his voice was gone. "You don't know anything about it."

_I know you're the one who destroyed them. I know why you had to do it. I know you're not the last._ Viera swallowed back all the words that wanted to spill from her lips and wishes with all her heart that she could wrap her arms around him without raising questions.

"Hand me the green one," the Doctor demanded without looking at her, quite done talking about it. She gave him the wire he wanted and listened to the whir of the screwdriver as she studied the back of his head.

Whatever anger and frustration she'd been feeling earlier was gone.

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><p>AUTHOR'S NOTE: <em>FINALLY<em>. This chapter gave me fits (obviously, since it's been… geez, more than a year since I updated this). I'm not all that certain that the Doctor's plan is really in character for Nine, but nothing else is coming to me at the moment and I really needed to get this moving again. On the plus side, the rest of the story is finished (most of it has been written for _ages_, taunting me from the dusty depths of my hard drive) so it should all be up in the next several days.


	6. Agreements

ALTERNATE PART TWELVE – AMELIA

Revision Six – Agreements

_~ January 27__th__, 2004 ~_

The Doctor's mood swings left Viera feeling like she ought to be walking on eggshells, though the situation was too risky for her to do so at the moment. He was working calmly again and she couldn't figure out whether he'd given up on their argument or if he was just biding his time until he could trick her into leaving somehow.

"Maybe they'll be reasonable," she offered after a few minutes. She couldn't take the tense silence any longer. He wouldn't look at her, too focused on whatever rewiring he was doing apparently. Or just ignoring her outright. "Maybe you won't have to blow anything up." Nope, nothing. No reply; not even a twitch. He was definitely ignoring her. "There has to be some way to wire things so that they can't get in here to change anything. I refuse to believe that risking our lives-" and it _was_ the both of their lives because she _wasn't_ leaving him, "is the only way that this works. If this is the control room, can't you just- I don't know, program their ship to go home? Not that they couldn't just turn around and come back, but they could do that if you cripple their ship too. Who's going to stop them next time if you're not around anymore?" Viera frowned at the back of his head as he muttered to himself in a language she couldn't translate without her connection to the TARDIS. "It's a stupid plan," she complained at last, feeling vindictively childish.

He finally spun on his heel to glare at her. "Do you _never_ shut up?" he barked.

She would have flinched away had she not been so irritated herself. "No. Apparently not," Viera bit out as calmly and evenly as she could manage. They stared at each other in silence a few moments before her thoughts slipped past her lips again. "What if we moved the TARDIS in here?" The Doctor growled, threw up his hand and turned back to the wiring again, yanking a few cords from beneath a console with a vengeance. "Seriously," Viera tried. "We could still stay and keep anyone from getting in to reprogram things but still be close enough to safety to duck into the ship if they actually blow things up. Probably. Right?"

The Doctor sighed and leaned his forehead against the edge of the console a moment before turning to Viera. She felt a touch guilty for his obvious stress but it cheered her to see resignation slowly beginning to overrun the irritation in his expression.

"Why are you so darned determined to make this complicated?"

"Why are you so darned determined to die?" she replied, unable to completely eliminate the faint tremor from her voice. She knew the answer to that question, or thought she did, but she wondered if he'd really even admitted to himself that was what he was doing. He grimaced but didn't snap at her, which felt like quite the victory really.

The fact that he didn't argue with her speculation didn't feel so good.

"All right," the Doctor sighed at last, tired defeat staining his voice. "All right. We'll try it your way. The Tarrukins have something of a twisted sense of honor. If we can force them to leave, they won't come back." He frowned at her, something fierce flickering into his gaze once more. "We'll bring the ship back here first, but _you_ are going to stay inside while I try to talk the Tarrukins into just giving up and going home without firing. There's no point in you taking stupid chances."

Viera shifted uncertainly. "You can't talk to them from inside the TARDIS?"

"No," he said shortly, unwilling to elaborate. "We do it this way or I'll send you back to Earth kicking and screaming if I have to and deal with the rest of it myself."

She matched his frown, though hers was honestly more concern than anger. "You'll run to the ship if things go bad? You'll have it close and you _run_ to safety as _soon_ as you can?" He was nodding irritably, but she wasn't certain she believed him. She _was_, however, certain he'd been telling the truth about finding a way to make her leave if she kept pushing. "You promise?" Viera asked at last, letting quiet pleading coil around the words.

He didn't look very happy about it, but the Doctor agreed. "I promise."

Things got a bit chaotic after that. They nearly got caught half a dozen times between leaving the control room and getting to the TARDIS, but they made it in the end. Then Viera was forced to watch from within the safety of the TARDIS' shields as the Doctor tried and failed to convince the Tarrukins to leave peacefully, wondering all the while if he would keep his promise. True to the Doctor's predictions when he resorted to threatening the Tarrukins' ship, there were soldiers pounding on the door almost immediately. It took several quick, inventive rewirings to keep them from opening the door and the Doctor was still wrist-deep in the guts of the console when the Tarrukin captain decided to call his 'bluff' and fire their weapons at the world below.

The brief flicker of hesitation in the Doctor's eyes would haunt Viera's nightmares for months.

In the end he kept his promise and dove for the door. The door slammed shut behind him as he tumbled across the grate-floor. The TARDIS shook in the wake of the explosion; Viera was yanked off her feet and landed on top of him with a grunt.

"Clumsy!" the Doctor scolded, half-laughing as the ship shuddered around them. She huffed but didn't even try to roll off him until the shaking stopped. It wasn't worth skinning her knees or bumping her head, and it was too late to avoid the embarrassment of being sprawled across him anyways.

The TARDIS stilled and as soon as Viera climbed to her feet, the Doctor leaped up and ran to the console. A minute or two of checking their surroundings had him grinning.

"It worked! The Tarrukins are leaving."

Viera grinned back at him and more a moment she felt like a true companion again, a true friend. Then he blinked and something unsettled skittered across his face before his walls came up once more and the moment was gone.

"Right. Time to get you back where you belong," he stated, flipping switches and levers until the TARDIS shuddered into flight with a familiar hum. It was a short trip – Viera barely had time to grab at the nearest railing – and soon the ship was still once more.

"Well, here we are," said the Doctor almost jovially as he swung open the door and gestured to the world outside. "Earth, safe and sound. Go on, get."

Viera managed a smile that she hoped looked relieved despite the sick feeling that twisted her stomach when she stepped out of the TARDIS and back towards her life as an abandoned companion. He followed her out a few steps, hands shoved into his pockets, and they both stopped to watch the bustle of oblivious people rushing about their everyday lives.

"Nothin' changes," she heard him murmur quietly. Viera looked at him curiously but he obviously wasn't in the mood to elaborate. "Well," he huffed, suddenly upbeat once more as he clapped his hands together. "I guess that's, that. See you around Carroway." And that seemed to be that. He flashed her a tight smile and turned back to his ship. Viera couldn't manage more than a quiet, strangled "bye" as he walked away.

Then the Doctor paused. Viera thought her heart might stop when he turned around and made her an offer with a crooked little grin.

"Come with me. We could travel the stars, you and me. What do you say?"


	7. Broken Hearts

ALTERNATE PART TWELVE – AMELIA

Revision Seven – Broken Hearts

_~ January 27__th__, 2004 ~_

_"Come with me. We could travel the stars, you and me. What do you say?"_

Viera went still, longing wrenching around her heart so fiercely that she thought she might be sick. Oh, how she _**wanted**-_

"I can't." The words were whispered, forced through a reluctant throat. She couldn't say yes. Of course she couldn't. She'd create a paradox, risk destroying everything that led her to that moment in the first place. She knew that… but it was still so very hard to say no.

The Doctor's expression didn't change exactly, but something in his eyes hardened again.

"I wish I could-" Viera tried to explain.

"Nah. That's fine. You've got your life to live." He brushed her words aside with a wave of his hand and a shake of his head. He was retreating behind his walls again, distancing himself. "Best be on my way then."

He was smiling as he turned away, but his shoulders were tense and his posture was stooped, and something about the sight of him walking alone just broke her heart.

"Doctor," Viera called before she could stop herself. He turned back with a raised eyebrow. _I shouldn't do this. I __**know**__ I shouldn't do this, but I can't let him leave looking so lost._She stepped close enough to lay a hand on his arm, barely holding back the urge to throw her arms around him. She hesitated, but said the words anyways. "It gets better, you know."

"What?" the Doctor asked, the other eyebrow going up to join the first. "What does?"

"This. Life," she stated. Viera saw the pain and doubt darken his eyes again, and she reached up to grab his face with both hands, ensuring his attention. She tried to force all her belief, all her confidence in this truth into her eyes and voice. She _knew_ she was telling him the truth; she just needed him to believe her. "I _can't_ go with you, but someone will. You won't travel alone for long. You'll be happy again. I promise you will." She stared into his wide eyes and silently begged him to believe her. Then she forced herself to step back, releasing him. For a long moment they just stared at each other.

"You _do_ know me," the Doctor decided. He studied her carefully as though all her secrets were hidden in her face.

"We've met," Viera admitted, trying hard to keep the irony from her voice.

The Doctor opened his mouth, perhaps to question her, but he shook his head before speaking a faint, hesitant smirk. "Suppose I'd best go find my future then. Wouldn't want to miss out on meeting you the first time."

"No," Viera agreed with a rather cheeky grin. "You really wouldn't."

As he turned to go again his expression was set in contemplation rather than loss, and Viera felt like she had won some sort of battle. That feeling of triumph kept her steady as she stood and watched the TARDIS disappear then slowly made her way back to the office for her debriefing.

She really wished the perception filter covered up the tears that rolled down her cheeks as well as it covered the color of her eyes. She missed him already.


	8. The Phone Call

ALTERNATE PART TWELVE – AMELIA

Revision Eight – The Phone Call

_~ April 2__nd__, 2008 ~_

It had been more than four years since she'd seen any version of the Doctor. Viera liked her life. She had a nice apartment. She liked her job. She made a difference, a _tangible_ difference every time she talked a dangerous situation into a peaceful resolution. She liked and admired her coworkers, or most of them. She liked her… well, "friends" wasn't quite the right words, was it? None of them knew her real name or her history or the secrets that made her who she was. They were more than acquaintances though. "Friends" probably fit better than anything else. They kept her from drowning in loneliness at least, even if she felt like she was putting on an act half the time she was with them.

The Brigadier General and Amy Pond were the only people she ever truly felt real around. She depended on them, loved them, and she was terribly grateful she had them both.

It was a good life. A comfortable life, despite the danger her job placed her in. It was a life she could see herself living with near contentment until old age or a job gone wrong took her away.

Still, _still_ some part of her never really stopped waiting. It was that part of her that kept track of the years, watching and waiting and counting the days until she could finally contact the others, Torchwood and Martha and Sarah Jane, without irrevocably screwing up the timeline.

"There's a phone call for you, ma'am," one of the secretaries stated, pulling Viera out of her thoughts.

"Sure. Thanks." Viera smiled at the polite young woman until she turned away. "Hello?" she greeted absently. All other thoughts fled abruptly as she heard Amy's voice on the other end of the line.

"Viera, he's back."


	9. Twelve Years Coming

_Supplemental Soundtrack:_

**A Long Awaited Reunion: "Hexed All" by Russian Circles**

* * *

><p>ALTERNATE PART TWELVE – AMELIA<p>

Revision Nine – Twelve Years Coming

_~ April 2__nd__, 2008 ~_

"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. It shouldn't have taken so long. Honestly, I thought it'd be five minutes, at most a few hours. I swear I didn't know-"

Viera listened with half an ear to the Doctor, _her_ Doctor babble apologies over the phone, feeling remarkably numb. _I'm supposed to feel excited, right? Or angry. I'm supposed to feel something. Aren't I supposed to __**feel**__ something?_

"Viera?" he asked a little hesitantly. She realized abruptly that he'd stopped talking sometime while she was mulling over her own feelings, and she'd yet to say a single word.

"Yeah?" was all she could seem to manage.

"… Where are you? We'll come get you."

Viera glanced around at the office full of UNIT operatives. "This probably isn't the best place to drop by unannounced. There's a small park between Hapton and Ferguson Streets; hardly anyone ever goes there. I can meet you there in a couple minutes." _If you show._

"All right. Two minutes," the Doctor promised.

She nodded though he couldn't see her and hung up before she could lose the composure she'd been holding onto so well. Viera wrote a quick note to her superior, not willing to go through the discomfort of a face to face goodbye when she wasn't entirely sure she'd actually be leaving. If the Doctor _did_ show up, well, the General could explain to the others, and she could probably talk the Doctor into stopping by to tell him hello and give a proper goodbye.

_The Doctor…_ Viera grabbed her bag on her way out the door, suddenly glad she'd never been able to shake the habit of carrying anything of import along with her just in case. _He's really back. Or at least he found his way back to Amy. There's no telling whether he'll make it here without incident, but…_ Her thoughts were fragmented as she made her way to the little park nearby. It didn't seem real, the possibility that the Doctor would be back in her life. She didn't know what to feel. She wasn't sure she felt anything at all.

The trees hid the small park clearing from the surrounding streets and Viera was alone when she found the lonely park bench tucked into the shade. _The Doctor's really back. He said he's coming. Two minutes. He said he's coming. _She slumped onto the bench, rested her head in her hands, and trembled all over as the numbness slowly faded away.

Less than a minute passed before she heard the sound of the TARDIS. Her breath caught in her throat and her eyes slid shut. How many times had she imagined that sound? How many nights had she dreamed it? With a silent flutter, the Obetovat came back to life with the faint echoing of another's heartbeat.

She didn't move as she heard the door open, didn't turn until the soft sound of approaching footsteps stopped and he cleared his throat beside her. Viera stood stiffly, falling into a military stance in her discomfort. She'd picked up a few habits from UNIT over the years, posture being one of them. It helped keep her calm, steady. She needed that just then.

Viera turned to face the Doctor, trying not to take his flicker of surprise personally. She knew she looked different. It had been a long twelve years, and she'd been in her early twenties only hours ago to him.

"Hello, Doctor," she greeted steadily, automatically tucking her hands behind her back. It was a defense mechanism, an effort to distance herself from the myriad of emotions threatening to drown her. Viera wasn't entirely conscious of just how soldierly she looked, but the Doctor was hyperaware of the change.

"Guess they made a soldier out of you after all," the Doctor observed a bit hoarsely. It hurt to see her like that when only the day before she'd been the sweet young woman who'd felt empathy for everyone who crossed her path. He didn't take into consideration how the words might come out, too caught in memories of Davros' gloating and guilt that he had taken such a gentle, compassionate girl and made her a weapon.

_Of all the things he could have said. Twelve years and his first words…_ She felt stung at that. Defensive. He had no right to be disappointed in her. _He_ was the one who did the abandoning. And soldiers were important too. Not everyone had his insane luck at saving the world without firing a shot. "I was with UNIT for eleven years," she bit out, standing straighter. "You pick up a bit here and there."

"You're carrying a gun," he pointed out quietly, gaze dropping to the weapon.

Viera was feeling a bit vindictive by then. "Of course I'm carrying a gun. We deal with a lot of dangerous creatures, you know, and not everyone's willing to cooperate peacefully."

He winced at that, and Viera immediately began to feel guilty for taunting him. The resentment drained out of her abruptly. Honestly, she couldn't hold onto anger to save her life, especially with him. And it wasn't like he'd really _meant_ to leave her behind, or he wouldn't have bothered coming back.

She relented with a quiet sigh and pulled out her clip to show him the thin silver darts inside. "Borrowed alien technology. Basically high-tech tranquilizer darts," Viera admitted. "Only gun I ever carry." Relief eased the lines of his face, and Viera shook her head.

"I wasn't a soldier for UNIT. I was an ambassador. Sometimes a negotiator," she explained, more pleased than was probably healthy at the approval burgeoning in his gaze. A reluctant smile tugged at the side of her mouth. It really shouldn't matter so much what he thought of her, but it did, even after twelve years' absence. "I had to steer well away from anything involving you, of course,"_ or try to,_ "but I've been doing my part."

"You've made quite a life for yourself," the Doctor mused admiringly, teasing just a little. "Viera Mier, emissary for Earth. Defender of the peace."

"Waiting. That's all it's been; biding my time," she corrected in case he was getting any ideas that she was better off there. "It was…" _torture_, "hard, keeping my distance, knowing every time you were here on Earth. I couldn't even call Jack or Ianto because I haven't technically met them yet. I couldn't talk to Gwen, or Martha, or Sarah. I told Amy bits and pieces, but the only one I could really talk to was Alistair."

"Lethbridge-Stewart?" the Doctor questioned, surprised.

Viera nodded. "I remembered you mentioning his name. I stayed a year in Leadworth. When you didn't come…" she trailed off and turned away towards the empty park, pained at the memories. It had been so hard, finally accepting that the Doctor might not come back for her after all. "I didn't know what to do with myself. Leadworth was…" _boring_, "nice. Comfortable. But I couldn't…" _bear a comfortable normal life anymore. You fault, that._ "Anyways, I got ahold of UNIT refused to talk to anyone but Sir Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart. When I dropped your name they finally let me talk to him. Long story short, he got me a job and kept me well away from you and from Torchwood. He even got me a perception filter, just in case I ran into one of you."

She glanced at him from the corner of her eye, still facing the park. "It was a good thing too, especially when I ran into another version of you."

"What?" the Doctor looked stunned, spinning to face her. "What?! When?"

Viera bit her lip and fiddled with the perception filter clipped to her belt. She held the Doctor's gaze as she flipped it on, watching realization spread across his expression as her appearance changed.

"That was you?" he breathed. Old memories were dragged up and reexamined as he suddenly found a different perspective. He looked… surprisingly vulnerable just then and she wondered what he was thinking.

"That was me," Viera confirmed softly.

A tender, wondering smile spread across his face. "I've been looking for you. You… you saved my life," the Doctor observed.

A flush blossomed across her cheeks and she shook her head, protesting. "I was just in the right place at the right time."

"No, you don't…" The Doctor took a deep breath and stepped close enough to lean his forehead against hers. He took her hands and Viera's heart gave a familiar stutter. Perhaps she hadn't changed as much as she'd thought. "I was drowning," the Doctor tried to explain, barely loud enough for her to hear even as close as they were. "It was right after the Time War. My people were gone… because of me. My home... my family…" He swallowed hard and gripped her hands a bit tighter. "The guilt and grief and sorrow… I was drowning in it. My mind was empty. I couldn't hear _anyone_; with the mild telepathy that Time Lords have… I _knew_ I was alone. Completely alone. I couldn't breathe. I was the last Time Lord and I didn't _want_ to exist."

"I kept taking more and more chances, throwing myself into idiotic plans. I was still fighting to help people, but I didn't care if it killed me in the process. It didn't matter anymore. Somehow I kept surviving, but it was only a matter of time…" The Doctor paused, and she squeezed his hands, helpless to do anything else. Still, the pain in his stormy eyes eased a little as he caught his breath and continued. "Your compassion, your stubborn, impossible hope… You reminded me of why life is precious, why we have to keep going. You promised things would get better and I _believed_ you." The Doctor's solemn voice lightened a little, gratitude and cheer seeping in. "I might never have gotten to know Rose. I might never have met Donna or Martha or you or a million other people." He gave a crooked little grin. "What would you all have done without me?"

Viera gave a small laugh, more to relieve the heavy weight of emotions than anything. "We'd have died a few hundred times over probably," she stated humorously, though it was probably true. _Is it possible that it really a good thing that I was left behind in the end? _She wasn't sure she wanted to deal with that idea at the moment. "I suppose everything happens for a reason," Viera stated quietly. She shook her head and tucked the thoughts away to examine later. "Want to say goodbye to the Brigadier before we go?"

"Absolutely! Ah, but you've made quite a name for yourself, it seems. Are you sure you want to leave the life you have here?" the Doctor checked, mostly teasing.

Viera answered seriously anyways. "I want to go _home_."

He gave her a soft smile, apology and fondness mixed in his eyes. The Doctor tugged free of her hands to sling an arm over her shoulders.

"All right then. Let's go home."

_~FIN~_


End file.
